Driving-gear for automobiles.



No. 68|,72l. Patented Sept. 3, I90I.

S. D. MUTT. DRIVING GEAR FOR AUTOMOBILES.

(Application filed Dec. 4, 1900.)

/ (No Model.)

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' UNTTnD STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL D. MOTT, OF PASSAIC, NEYV JERSEY, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN MENTS, TO MOTORMOBILE COMPANY, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.

DRIVING-GEAR FOR AUTOMOBILES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 681,721, dated September 3, 1901.

Application filed December 4, 1900. Serial No. 38,697. (No model.)

To crZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, SAMUEL D. Morr, of Passaic, Passaic county, New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Driving-Gear forAutomobiles,of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in driving-gear for automobiles, and particularly to improvements in that class of driving-gear in which chains and sprockets are dispensed with.

The object of my invention is to produce a very simple and positive mechanism, simpler even than a sprocket wheel and chain, which employs connecting rods extending from the crank of the engine crank-shaft to cranks on a shaft pivotally connected to the driving-axle and which has the connections between the crank-shaft and the countershaft so arranged that the two connected shafts are always held in correct parallel relation, to the end that power may be effectively transmitted Without regard to the ordinary changes of position of the parts of the vehicle.

Other objects of my invention are to suspend the engine in such a way that it will permit a lateral or backward-and-forward movement of the carriage-body without affecting the relation of the engine and its driving gear to the running parts of the vehicle, and, further, to make the entire engine suspending and transmitting apparatus of the simplest and most durable and positive nature.

With these ends in view my invention consists of certain features of construction and combination of parts, which will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference refer to similar parts throughout the several views. 4

Figure 1 is a detail side elevation, partly in section, of myimproved driving-gear,showing also the means of suspending the engine. Fig. 2 is a broken plan of the driving-gear proper with parts in section. Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the driving-gear and engine, parts being broken away and other parts in section. Fig. lis a detail plan of the engine and its means for suspension, the engine support being broken to show more clearly the structure. spective view of the en gine-suspending means, and Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view of some of the crank-shaft connections.

In the drawings I have illustrated a very common type of duplex-cylinder engine 10,

having the customary cylinders 11, which are connected together by a block 12 or other suitable means and which have the common steam-chest 13, the lever mechanism 14: for

controlling the feed, and the ordinary steampipe 15 and exhaust-pipe 15, the latter being shown by dotted lines in Fig. 4.. All the above mechanism is common, and I do not claim it as my invention. The only unusual feature is that where the feed-pipe 15 enters tion with the supporting-frame of the carriage, so that it is laterally or longitudinally kept at a fixed predetermined distance in relation to the running gear regardless of the side or forward pitching of the carriage-body,

and so that, too, the engine crank-shaft and the drivinggears on the axle are under all conditions equidistant and in the same plane. Various means for accomplishing this result might be found, but that illustrated is simple and efficient. plate 17 is detachably secured to the support 16, having, preferably, a slotted bolt 17 on its back (see Fig. 4) to pass through the support 16, and the bracket-plate 17 may be locked in place by a key 17*, as in Fig. 1. By having the central support, as the bolt 17, the bracket-plate 17 may swing on the part 16. The bracket-plate has projecting lugs 18, which enter between and are pivoted to the ears 19 on the backs of the cylinders 11, although any suitable hinge connection can be made between the cylin- Fig. 5 is a broken detail per- 55 The engine may of course be of 75 A bracket- 6 ders and the bracket-plate. It will beseen that the arrangement just described provides for all the necessary movements ofthe carriage in relation to the enginethat is to say, if the carriage-body, of which the part 16 is a portion, tips laterally the engine remains relatively level, as the bracket-plate 17 has the described pivotal connection with the said support. If, on the other hand, the carriage-body pitches backward and forward in relation to the running-gear, this eccentric movement is compensated for by the hinge connection between the engine and the bracket-plate, so that whatever twisting or pitching may be imparted to the bodyof the vehicle the engine and the running-gear will be unaffected. The engine has the ordinary cross-head guides 20, extending downward from each cylinder, and the customary crossheads 21, which connect with the piston-rods 22 and reciprocate vertically, as usual. The cross-heads are pivotally connected with pitmen 23, which extend downward to the cranks 24 on the crank-shaft 25, which is journaled in suitable bearings 26 at the lower ends of the cross-head guides 20. The cranks 24 are set quartering, as shown best in Fig. 1, so as to provide against centering, and it will be seen that the crank-shaft will be turned, as usual, by the reciprocation of the cross-heads. I have also shown on the crank-shaft the usual eccentrics 27, which are adapted to connect with the customary reversing gear- (Not shown.) The opposite ends of the crank. shaft 25 are stayed by the parallel rods 28, the ends of which are provided with or formed into sleeves 29, and these rods extend rearward parallel with each other, the front sleeves 29 of each being journaled to hubs 30 on the lower ends of the cross-head guides 20, while the rear sleeves 29 are journaled on the counter-shaft 31, which is held parallel with the crank-shaft 25 and is journaled in the standards 32, which extend upward from the yoke 33, which yoke embraces the main gears and is at opposite sides fixed to the usual axle-sleeves 34, which incase the rear axle 35 and which are adapted to support the or dinary bolster 37, as usual, the bolster being shown in Fig. 3 by dotted lines. It will be noticed that this connection of the stay-rods 38 between the crank-shaft 35-and countershaft 31 keeps the said shafts in parallelism and prevents any cramping or displacing of the parts. The main cranks 24 connect by rods 38 with cranks 39 on the counter-shaft 31, the cranks 39 being set to correspond with the cranks 24, and it will be seen that as the cranks 24 revolve they will impart a similar and coincident movement to the cranks 39, and so the counter-shaft will revolve in unison with the shaft 25. The shaft 31 carries the gear-wheel 40, which meshes with and drives the main gear 41 on the rear axle 34, the power being transmitted through the vehicle-wheels precisely as usual.

From the foregoing description it will be observed that the engine 10 and its drivinggear back to the rear axle 34 are always held in correct operative relation to each other without regard to the ordinary pitching or twisting or turning of the carriage-body that is to say, if the body, including the support 16, tips laterally the engine will remain level by reason of its described pivotalsupport, and if, on the other hand,.the carriage-body pitch forward or backward the engine still remains stationary, or relatively so, and if this caused the standards 32 to tip forward even as far as the dotted line in Fig. 1 the operative relation between the gears 40 and 41 and the connection between the gears and the engine would still be maintained and the power would be effectively transmitted. Likewise, if the gear 40 were forced backward the same result would obtain.

' It will be seen, then, that I provide a Very simple manner for an effective transmission of power from the engine to the driving-axle without regard to any ordinary variations of the vehicle parts.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an automobile, the combination with the vehicle-body, of an engine pivoted thereon so as to permit a lateral movement of the body in relation to the engine, and an operative driving connection between the engine and the running parts of the vehicle.

2. In an automobile, the combination with the vehicle-body and the running parts, of the engine hung thereon so as to permit a lateral and backward-and-forward movement of the body in relation to the engine, and an operative driving connection between the engine and the running parts of the vehicle.

3. In an automobile, the combination between the vehicle-body and the running parts of the vehicle, of an engine suspended from the Vehicle-body so as to permit a lateral movement of the body in relation to the engine, and an operative driving connection between the engine and the running parts of the vehicle.

4. In an automobile, the combination with the vehicle-body, of an engine suspended on the said body, so as to permit a lateral and backward-and-forward movement of the body in relation to the engine, a crank-shaft driven by the engine, a counter-shaft, means connecting the counter-shaft and crank-shaft whereby the two shafts are held in parallel relation, a driving connection between the two mentioned shafts, and an operative connection between the counter-shaft and an axle of the vehicle.

5. In an automobile, the combination with the vehicle-body and an engine suspended thereon so as to permit a lateral movement of the body in relation to the engine, of a crank-shaft turned by the engine, a countershaft mounted in suitable movable supports, stay-rods connecting the two shafts, crank IIO and-rod connections between the countershaft and the crank-shaft, and an operative driving connection between the counter-shaft and an axle of the vehicle.

6. In an automobile, the combination with the vehicle-body and an engine suspended thereon so as to permit a lateral and backward-and-forward movement of the body in relation to the engine, of a crank-shaft turned by the engine, a counter-shaft mounted in suitable movable supports, stay-rods connecting the two shafts, crank-and-rod connections between the counter-shaft and the crankshaft, and an operative driving connection between the counter-shaft and an axle of the vehicle.

7. In an automobile, the combination with the vehicle-body and the engine suspended thereon so as to permit a lateral and backward-and-forward movement of the body in relation to the engine, means for staying the engine in a relatively fixed position, and an operative driving connection between the engine and the running parts of the Vehicle.

8. In an automobile, the combination with the vehicle-body and the engine suspended thereon so as to permit a lateral and backward-and-forward movement of the vehiclebody in relation to the engine, a crankshaft journaled at the lower ends of the cross-head guides of the engine, a counter-shaft j ournaled in supports connected with the axle-sleeve of the vehicle, stay-rods connecting the countershaft and crank-shaft, a crank-and-rod connection between the two said shafts, and an operative gear connection between the counter-shaft and the driving-axle of the Vehicle. In testimonyv whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

SAMUEL D. MOTT. WVitnesses:

JOHN D. GRIFFEN, W. I-IUTcHINsoN. 

